# George Twisleton > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/George_Twisleton > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/George_Twisleton.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Twisleton > Source revision: 1350511392 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English soldier and politician}} {{for|his contemporary and namesake|Sir George Twisleton, 1st Baronet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = George Twisleton | honorific_suffix = | image = Clynnog.JPG | caption = St Beuno's Church, [Clynnog Fawr](/source/Clynnog_Fawr), where Twisleton was buried in 1667 | constituency_MP = [Anglesey](/source/Anglesey_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | term_start = September 1654 | term_end = April 1659 | office2 = [Governor](/source/Governor) of [Denbigh Castle](/source/Denbigh_Castle_and_town_walls) | term_start2 = October 1646 | term_end2 = May 1660 | birth_date = 1618 | birth_place = [Drax](/source/Drax%2C_North_Yorkshire), [West Riding of Yorkshire](/source/West_Riding_of_Yorkshire) | death_date = 12 May 1667 | death_place = Lleuar Fawr, [Carnarvonshire](/source/Carnarvonshire) | resting_place = St Beuno's Church, [Clynnog Fawr](/source/Clynnog_Fawr) | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | party = | other_party = | spouse = Mary Glynne {{circa}} 1650 to his death | partner = | relations = | children = George (1652–1714); Margaret; Jane; Philip (died 1701); William (died 1719); Mary (died 1720?); Alice (died 1720?); Elin (died 1727) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | nickname = | allegiance = | branch = | service_years = | rank = [Colonel](/source/Colonel) | unit = | commands = | battles = {{tree list}} *[Wars of the Three Kingdoms](/source/Wars_of_the_Three_Kingdoms) **[Siege of Chester](/source/Siege_of_Chester) **[Denbigh Green](/source/Battle_of_Denbigh_Green) **Siege of [Denbigh Castle](/source/Denbigh_Castle_and_town_walls) **[Battle of Y Dalar Hir](/source/Battle_of_Y_Dalar_Hir) {{tree list/end}} }} '''George Twisleton''', 1618 to 12 May 1667, was a member of the [landed gentry](/source/landed_gentry) from [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) and [colonel](/source/colonel) in the [Parliamentarian](/source/Roundhead) army during the [Wars of the Three Kingdoms](/source/Wars_of_the_Three_Kingdoms). Under the [Commonwealth of England](/source/Commonwealth_of_England), he sat as [MP](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Anglesey](/source/Anglesey_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) from 1654 to 1659. Although nominated to the [High Court of Justice](/source/High_Court_of_Justice_(1649)) for the [Trial of Charles I](/source/Trial_of_Charles_I) in January 1649, he did not participate and thus escaped prosecution after the 1660 [Stuart Restoration](/source/Stuart_Restoration). Thereafter he lived quietly at home in Lleuar Fawr, [Carnarvonshire](/source/Carnarvonshire), where he died in 1667. ==Personal details== George Twisleton was born in 1618, third son of John Twisleton, who owned lands near [Drax](/source/Drax%2C_North_Yorkshire) and [Barlow, North Yorkshire](/source/Barlow%2C_North_Yorkshire), and Margaret Constable (died 1626). His two elder brothers, [John](/source/John_Twisleton) (1614–1682), and [Philip](/source/Philip_Twisleton) ({{circa}} 1616–1673), also supported [Parliament](/source/Parliament_of_England) during the [Wars of the Three Kingdoms](/source/Wars_of_the_Three_Kingdoms).{{sfn|Roberts|2017}} Sometime before 1652, he married Mary Glynne (died 1676), a Welsh heiress; they had numerous children, including George (1652–1714), Margaret, Jane, Philip (died 1701), William (died 1719), Mary (died 1720?), Alice (died 1720?), and Elin (died 1727).{{sfn|Williams|1959}} ==First English Civil War== When the [First English Civil War](/source/First_English_Civil_War) began in 1642, his brother Philip joined the army of the [Eastern Association](/source/Eastern_Association) in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire).{{sfn|Roberts|2017}} Twisleton's own movements are uncertain, although it seems likely he served with the Northern Association horse under Sir [Thomas Fairfax](/source/Thomas_Fairfax). In April 1645, he is listed as [Lieutenant Colonel](/source/Lieutenant_Colonel) of a cavalry regiment in the forces led by [Sir William Brereton](/source/Sir_William_Brereton%2C_1st_Baronet), [Parliamentarian](/source/Roundhead) commander in the [North Midlands](/source/North_Midlands).{{sfn|Wales|2017}} How Twisleton ended up here is unclear. Fairfax combined with Brereton on a number of occasions, including the [Battle of Nantwich](/source/Battle_of_Nantwich) in January 1644, and Twisleton's unit may have remained in the area to support the [Siege of Chester](/source/Siege_of_Chester). The latter was a key supply point, linking Royalist recruiting areas in [Wales](/source/Wales) and [Ireland](/source/Kingdom_of_Ireland) with their armies elsewhere in [England](/source/Kingdom_of_England).{{sfn|Hutton|2003|pp=122-124}} By summer 1645, Brereton's blockade meant only the crossing over the [River Dee](/source/River_Dee%2C_Wales) still connected Chester and [North Wales](/source/North_Wales).{{sfn|Clark|2010|p=117}} {{Location map many|Wales|caption = Key locations mentioned in article|relief=yes|border = black| width = 350| float = left |label = Chester |pos=top|coordinates={{coord|53|12|N|2|54|W}} |label2 = Denbigh |pos2=top|coordinates2={{coord|53|11|N|3|25|W}} |label3 = Y Dalar Hir |pos3=top|coordinates3={{coord|53|14|N|4|4|W}} |label4 = Clynnog Fawr|pos4=right|coordinates4={{coord|53|01|N|4|22|W}} |label5 = Oswestry |pos5=bottom|coordinates5={{coord|52|52|N|3|3|W}} |label6 = Montgomery Castle |pos6=bottom|coordinates6={{coord|52|35|N|3|9|W}} |label7 = Gainsborough|pos7=top|coordinates7={{coord|53|23|N|0|45|W}} |label8 = Anglesey |pos8=left|coordinates8={{coord|53|17|N|4|20|W}} |label9 = Whitchurch |pos9=left|coordinates9={{coord|52|58|N|2|41|W}} |label10 = Hawarden |pos10=bottom|coordinates10={{coord|53|11|N|3|01|W}} |label11 = Caernarfon |pos11=left|coordinates11={{coord|53|08|N|4|17|W}} }} Based in [Oswestry](/source/Oswestry), Twisleton was deputy to Colonel [John Carter](/source/John_Carter_(Roundhead)), charged with driving the Royalists out of [Montgomeryshire](/source/Montgomeryshire).{{sfn|Wales|2017}} The [Battle of Naseby](/source/Battle_of_Naseby) in June 1645 turned the war decisively in favour of [Parliament](/source/Parliament_of_England), while the surrender of [Montgomery Castle](/source/Relief_of_Montgomery_Castle) shortly afterwards cemented their control of the county.{{sfn|Hutton|2003|pp=178-179}} This allowed Parliamentarian forces from Oswestry under [Thomas Mytton](/source/Thomas_Mytton) to push north into [Denbighshire](/source/Denbighshire) and [Carnarvonshire](/source/Carnarvonshire). At [Denbigh Green](/source/Battle_of_Denbigh_Green) in November 1645, they repulsed a last ditch Royalist attempt to relieve Chester.{{sfn|Mangianello|2004|p=151}} Twisleton led an attack on [Whitchurch, Shropshire](/source/Whitchurch%2C_Shropshire) in December, and was then sent to blockade [Hawarden Castle](/source/Hawarden_Castle_(medieval)), just before Chester capitulated in February 1646.{{sfn|Wales|2017}} [Denbigh Castle](/source/Denbigh_Castle_and_town_walls) itself held out until October 1646, when the garrison was ordered to surrender by [Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England).{{sfn|Hutton|2003|p=200}} Twisleton became the new [Governor](/source/Governor), a position he retained until the [Stuart Restoration](/source/Stuart_Restoration) in 1660.{{sfn|Wales|2017}} ==Second English Civil War== [[File:The Edge of Coed Gyfynys (geograph 4377676).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|[Menai Straits](/source/Menai_Straits), close to the site of the [Battle of Y Dalar Hir](/source/Battle_of_Y_Dalar_Hir), fought on 5 June 1648]] However, victory resulted in bitter disputes over the post-war political settlement between the [New Model Army](/source/New_Model_Army) and the majority of [MPs](/source/Member_of_Parliament) in Parliament.{{sfn|Gentles|2002|pp=144-150}} In this internal struggle, Twisleton's own position is unclear, although Philip Twisleton sided with the army, and in August 1647 replaced [Edward Rossiter](/source/Edward_Rossiter) as colonel of the regiment guarding Charles I at [Holdenby House](/source/Holdenby_House). Rossiter was viewed by the [Army Council](/source/Army_Council_(1647)) as unreliable due to his links with Parliamentary moderates, and dismissed.{{sfn|Barton|2008}} When the [Second English Civil War](/source/Second_English_Civil_War) began in April 1648, [John Owen](/source/John_Owen_(Royalist)), former Royalist Governor of [Conwy](/source/Conwy), raised a small force in Carnarvonshire. On 3 June, he laid siege to [Caernarfon Castle](/source/Caernarfon_Castle); Twisleton marched to its relief, and two days later Owen intercepted him near [Y Dalar Hir](/source/Battle_of_Y_Dalar_Hir) on the shore of the [Menai Straits](/source/Menai_Straits). In the ensuing battle, the Royalists initially had the upper hand but fled after Owen was captured.{{sfn|Rees|1931|p=9}} Combined with an earlier victory at [St Fagans](/source/Battle_of_St_Fagans) in May, this ended serious Royalist resistance in Wales, although [Anglesey](/source/Anglesey) was not finally subdued until October.{{sfn|Royle|2004|pp=439-440}} In January 1649, Twisleton was among the 135 commissioners appointed to the [High Court of Justice](/source/High_Court_of_Justice_(1649)) for the [Trial of Charles I](/source/Trial_of_Charles_I), but he did not attend the proceedings.{{sfn|Williams|1895|p=25}} He focused instead on establishing his position in Denbigh, marrying Mary Glynne, an heiress whose [father](/source/John_Glynne_(judge)) was [Lord Chief Justice](/source/Lord_Chief_Justice_of_England_and_Wales) from 1655 to 1660, while her brother [William](/source/Sir_William_Glynne%2C_1st_Baronet) was [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Caernarfon](/source/Caernarfon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in 1659.{{sfn|Helms|Mimardière|1983}} Returned as MP for [Anglesey](/source/Anglesey_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in [1654](/source/First_Protectorate_Parliament), Twisleton was re-elected in both [1656](/source/Second_Protectorate_Parliament) and [1659](/source/Third_Protectorate_Parliament), serving on several Parliamentary committees.{{sfn|Williams|1895|p=25}} In the political infighting that took place in the last few months of the Commonwealth, Philip Twisleton supported [George Monck](/source/George_Monck%2C_1st_Duke_of_Albemarle), who considered his brother George reliable enough to confirm him as colonel of an infantry regiment in February 1660.{{sfn|Wales|2017}} Following the [Stuart Restoration](/source/Stuart_Restoration) in May, the regiment was disbanded, while the Royalist [Bulkeley](/source/Robert_Bulkeley%2C_2nd_Viscount_Bulkeley) family resumed their control of local politics. Twisleton resigned all his offices, and retired to live on his wife's estate at Lleuar Fawr. He died there on 12 May 1667, and was buried in St Beuno's Church, [Clynnog Fawr](/source/Clynnog_Fawr).{{sfn|Williams|1959}} ==References== {{Reflist|15em}} ==Sources== * {{cite web |last1=Barton |first1=Tony |title=Colonel Edward Rossiter's Regiment of Horse |date=2008 |url=http://wiki.bcw-project.org/new-model-army/horse-regiments/edward-rossiter |access-date=2 February 2023 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614155606/https://wiki.bcw-project.org/new-model-army/horse-regiments/edward-rossiter |url-status=dead }} * {{cite book|last=Clark|first=David|title=The English Civil War|year=2010|publisher=Pocket Essentials|isbn=978-1842433454}} * {{cite book|last=Gentles|first=Ian|title=The Civil Wars in England in ''The Civil Wars; a Military History of England, Scotland and Ireland 1638-1660''|editor-last1=Kenyon|editor-first1=John|editor-last2=Ohlmeyer|editor-first2=Jane|year=2002|publisher=OUP|isbn=978-0192802781}} * {{cite book|last1=Helms|first1=M.W|last2=Mimardière|first2=A.W|title=GLYNNE, William (1638-90), of Bicester, Oxon. and Hawarden, Flints in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690'' |date=1983 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/glynne-william-1638-90}} * {{cite book|last1=Hutton|first1=Ronald|title=The Royalist War Effort 1642–1646|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415305402}} * {{cite book |last=Mangianello |first=Norman |title=Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660 |date=2004 |publisher=Scarecrow|isbn=978-0810851009}} * {{cite journal |last=Rees |first=J.W. |title=The Second Civil War in Wales |journal=Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |date=1931 |volume=Session 1930–31}} * {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Stephen K |title='Philip Twisleton in ''Surnames beginning "T": The Cromwell Association Online Directory of Parliamentarian Army Officers'' |date=2017 |publisher=British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/cromwell-army-officers/surnames-t|access-date=31 January 2023}} * {{cite book|last=Royle|first=Trevor|year=2004|edition=2006|title=Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660|publisher=Abacus|isbn=978-0-349-11564-1}} * {{cite book |last1=Wales |first1=Tim |title='George Twisleton in ''Surnames beginning "T": The Cromwell Association Online Directory of Parliamentarian Army Officers'' |date=2017 |publisher=British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/cromwell-army-officers/surnames-t|access-date=1 February 2023}} * {{cite book|last=Williams|first=W. G|year=1959|title= TWISLETON, GEORGE (1618-1667), officer in the parliamentary army in ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography''|access-date=30 Jan 2023|url=https://biography.wales/article/s-TWIS-GEO-1618}} * {{cite book|last=Williams|first=W. R|year=1895|title=The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales 1541-1895|publisher=Edwin Davies|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030498939/page/n25/mode/2up?view=theater&q=Twisleton|access-date=3 February 2023}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|en}} {{succession box | title=[Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Anglesey](/source/Anglesey_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | before= Not represented in [Barebones Parliament](/source/Barebones_Parliament) | with= [William Foxwist](/source/William_Foxwist) 1654 | with2= [Griffith Bodwrda](/source/Griffith_Bodwrda) 1656 | years=1654–1659 | after= Not represented in Restored Rump }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Twisleton, George}} Category:1618 births Category:1667 deaths Category:People from the West Riding of Yorkshire (before 1974) Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Category:People from Clynnog Fawr Category:English MPs 1654–1655 Category:English MPs 1656–1658 Category:English MPs 1659 Category:Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [George Twisleton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Twisleton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Twisleton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.